Tag Archives: Cad Bane

Star Wars: The Clone Wars was an Emmy Award winning series which premiered in theaters on August 15, 2008 and subsequently on television on October 8, 2008. The series’ television run ended on March 2, 2013 with the conclusion to Season Five, before seeing a brief, 13 episode revival on Netflix on March 7, 2014.

The early story of The Clone Wars is one of highs and lows. Debuting in third place in its opening weekend, The Clone Wars brought in $14.6 million on its way to a domestic total of $35.2 million in its theatrical run. I remember walking out of the theater with my then roommate, and despite some high points we were rather disappointed in this new Star Wars movie. On the small screen The Clone Wars fared better premiering with 3.96 million viewers, a record for a series premiere on Cartoon Network at the time.

At the beginning, with the very stylized animation design used in the series, the rather obnoxious banter between Anakin and Ahsoka, and the relative lack of music of John Williams, The Clone Wars’ early days were filled with hits and misses. As the show evolved over the seasons it continued to improve each year, with animation, sound, story and acting all deepening as the show grew.

The interesting thing about The Clone Wars is that it was really a massive R & D project for Lucasfilm as well as a labor of love for George Lucas. Through The Clone Wars, Lucasfilm was able to develop a new branch of the company: Lucasfilm Animation. So without The Clone Wars a show like what we are to get in Star Wars Rebels wouldn’t be possible.

Having seen the premiere of Star Wars Rebels, I am confident in saying that we will get a show that is better than The Clone Wars in Star Wars Rebels. Here are nine reasons why.

1. The Empire is back

Love or hate the Prequel films, the truth is that the Empire has a much more compelling set of villains than the Separatists. The return of various types of Stormtroopers, TIE fighters, AT walkers, speeder bikes, Star Destroyers, and arrogant and capricious Imperial officers has me incredibly excited, more so than seeing legions of clankers.

This hearkening back to the Original Trilogy should also appeal to older fans like myself and help younger fans transition from The Clone Wars to the Original Trilogy, and then to Episode VII in 2015.

2. Chronological Order: “216, 116, T, 301, 303, 101…”

The Clone Wars was a show that was released in one order, but that order is not the same as the in-universe chronological order of the events in the show. For example, chronologically the series begins with Season 2 Episode 16, then Season 1 Episode 16, the film, Season 3 Episode 1, Season 3 Episode 3, and then Season 1 Episode 1.

Star Wars Rebels is beginning with the 1-hour premiere “Spark of Rebellion” and then continuing in order after that. This will make it much easier to follow the show, the character developments, and events in the world of Star Wars Rebels.

3. Everyman versus the Ruling Class

Much of the Prequels and The Clone Wars contained stories about the ruling elites of the galaxy far, far away. Sure, there were some episodes on remote planets and in the under levels on Coruscant, but for the most part we were dealing with the power players in the universe.

In Rebels we are focusing on a small group of outcasts in Hera, Kanan, Chopper, Zeb, Sabine, and Ezra. These are street level characters not dealing with the fate of the entire galaxy, but with the fates of their friends and neighbors. I can’t wait to see where they take the story of the population of Lothal as individuals oppose and support the Empire.

4. Opening Misfire

As I mentioned in the opening, The Clone Wars theatrical premiere was hardly the strongest set of episodes in the series, and was a rather unimpressive debut overall. On the other hand, the premiere of Star Wars Rebels while not perfect is an immeasurably better beginning to a show. If this is the quality of the show at the beginning, I cannot wait to see where it goes as the creators develop these characters further.

5. Animation

The Clone Wars matured into a very beautiful animation style, but it took a long while to get there. It is visually difficult to watch some of those early episodes after being spoiled with the later seasons. Star Wars Rebels has some interesting influences from Ralph McQuarrie and Disney’s Tangled. While there are budgetary realities that will mean there are likely fewer resources available to the team creating Rebels than was available for The Clone Wars, the experience working on the previous show and the advances in technology give the current creative team some real advantages. The animation style for Rebels is more accessible and palatable for casual viewers.

6. John Williams

On the musical front, Kevin Kiner who was responsible for the music in The Clone Wars returns, but his use and innovation based off of John Williams’ Star Wars scores is much more present in Rebels than it was in The Clone Wars. This tonal shift is important because it adds to the sense that Rebels feels more like Star Wars than The Clone Wars.

7. An Experienced Crew With Some Great Additions

A good portion of the crew that is working on Star Wars Rebels are, as Dave Filoni says, “veterans of The Clone Wars.” The experience of telling Star Wars stories from The Clone Wars seems to have given Filoni and his crew a greater mastery of not only the mythology of Star Wars, but also a better sense of what feels like Star Wars. Of course, the additions of Greg Weisman and Simon Kinberg as well as the work of folks from the Lucasfilm Story Group provides great quality storytelling experience.

8. Fewer Limits

The Clone Wars was set in a narrower period of time than Star Wars Rebels. Taking place between Episodes II and III, The Clone Wars dealt with some major and minor film characters from the Prequel Trilogy, a number of whom had fates that were fixed by those movies. While characters like Captain Rex, Ahsoka, Asajj, Cad Bane, and the resurrected Darth Maul evolved into major characters in the show with unanswered fates , we know the fate of many more of the characters seeing frequent screen time. There are also limitations on how characters can interact, for example Anakin and General Grievous based on dialogue from Episode III.

As Rebels begins we are dealing with an almost entirely new cast of characters. There are some first season cameos that were revealed in a trailer for the show, but the characters we are following around are all new, and we do not have any sense of what their fates will be before the events of Episode IV. I am very excited by what creative freedom this is providing for the writers of Star Wars Rebels .

9. A Core Group of Characters

One of the beauties of The Clone Wars was that we got to see a lot of different characters take the spotlight. If a certain character was not your favorite in a few episodes you wouldn’t be seeing them again. This allowed us to meet and get to know a number of really interesting characters, and I particularly enjoyed spending time with the Clones, Asajj, and Ahsoka. Of course this does make it harder for casual fans to jump on board to the show midstream, or to follow a particular characters story.

In Rebels we will be on the Ghost with Hera, Kanan, Chopper, Zeb, Sabine and Ezra and these will be the characters that we get to know and follow around. This will allow us to get to know these characters more deeply and quickly than we were able to do with many on The Clone Wars.

This week true believers, Beyonders, Fanboys, Fangirls, respected aliens around the galaxy, The Defender of the EU; Mark Hurliman, and your EU Guru; Nathan P. Butler, sit down to continue discussing The Clone Wars Season One. Strap in and tighten your crash webbing Fandom, Star Wars Beyond the Films is setting off on another rapid-fire trip into the galaxy far, far away!

Hunting For Fighter Pods

The month of September was spent looking for my new favorite line of Star Wars toys. The Star Wars fighter pods series is now in its 3rd wave as of this month in the United States. Series 1 originally was released in February of 2012 and the 2nd wave began hitting stores in August 2012. I began hunting them down in September and my quest was to find as many of Series 2 as possible before the month was out. I consider myself very lucky because I actually was able to get my hands on every figure that was not in a special exclusive pack.

In the midst of hunting down Series 2 I also was on a quest to complete my Series 1 collection. I was actually able to find the last set that I needed to complete the set of vehicle launchers, the Jedi Starfighter. I am missing a few figures from Series 1 still but not many. The one thing that is hindering that collection is the exclusive Darth Maul tin that can be found at Target. I have been looking at my Target stores but I have yet to find the tin. For obvious reasons the tin is needed so that I can complete the collection however, I really want the pack for the Darth Maul figures and Ziro the Hutt.

This is how I went about collecting Series 2. I first went out to a Target that I know does not get a lot of toy traffic just to see if they even had any fighter pods in stock on the shelf. To my surprise they actually had quite a few of the 4 packs. They did not have the blind mystery bags or any of the vehicle packs. So I grabbed a few and began checking them off of the checklist that they give you in the package. The next time I went out to get some I went to a bigger Target that was more likely to have more product but also gets shopped more. Turns out the selection was pretty sparse but they did have mystery bags, the 4 packs and that is where I found my series 1 Jedi Starfighter. I picked these up and was very excited to open the mystery bags. There are 6 exclusive figures in this wave that can be found in the mystery bags and I was fortunate enough to get 2 of these figures. I picked up 4 mystery bags and I got 2 exclusive figures. The 4 packs I got were mostly new figures but it was at this point that my duplicates started accumulating. I made a video to show the opening of the mystery bag figures and it can be found right here.

The next outing to find the ominous fighter pods was with my 11 year old nephew. We first went to Toys R Us and that was a pretty disappointing trip. Not only did they only have a few series 1 fighter pods but their selection of Star Wars merchandise was not that impressive. I have begun to really not hold much stock in Toys R Us or at least the one closest to me as it is always trashed and does not have much in stock. They did have the Ewok set though which I almost bought. My only reasons for not picking it up are because I am on a fighter pod only mission.

From here we went to a different Target and we were able to find a few 4 packs of Series 2 and the BARC Speeder Bike/Pirate Speeder Bike Pack. The next day and last day of the month I went one more time to one of the Targets I had been to already and I found a spectacular find, Series 3 mystery bags! There were only 2 but I was shocked and very excited so I picked them up and 2 more 4 packs.

These last 4 packs would complete the collection of individual figures with hologram Palpatine and a Shock Trooper. It is safe to say that the one major dealer I did not go to was Wal-Mart and had I gone to one I may have been able to find the other vehicle packs that I am missing and possibly more blind bags. I believe I am missing 8 figures in total from Series 2. The figures I am missing are exclusive to the vehicle packs and the mystery bags. I am also fortunate to have my hands on 4 figures from Series 3. All this means for me is that October may be a month of hunting down Series 3 and I am still looking for that Darth Maul Tin from series 1.

The most interesting thing I found with Series 2 was that there is a variant of Cad Bane. I first found out about this via Adam Pawlus at Galactic Hunter.com he posted some pictures of it so I knew to be on the lookout and I was actually able to get my hands on both versions.

It is still unclear if this was done on purpose but the version that has silver guns and silver bands on his hat was in a 4 pack and the version with black guns was in the speeder bike pack. However, I did see the Cad Bane with black guns in a 4 pack as well. If you can find both I would definitely try to get them both.

It was a fun month of hunting but it looks like I am in for another month of it with wave 3. I will keep you updated over at Fangirl Next Door with videos of my collection, pictures and updates. If you are looking for these cute little guys then happy hunting they sure are fun to knock over!

Welcome to the first installment in a series of character centered viewing guides for Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series! Maybe you are a big fan of the Droids episodes, maybe you are a fan of the Jedi, or of the Clones, the Villains or the Bounty Hunters, well, you are in the right place!

In each one of these posts we will take a subset of characters and point you in the direction of the episodes you should watch to focus on those characters. Today we begin with the scum of the galaxy, just don’t tell them I said that!

Hunter by Hunter: Bounty Hunter Breakdown

Good Guys: Sugi’s Crew and the Cuy’val Dar

Season Two of The Clone Wars brought us a new perspective on the bounty hunter profession, we got bounty hunters wearing the white hats and protecting (or at least trying to protect) a village of Felucian farmers in the episode “Bounty Hunters.” The female Zabrak bounty hunter Sugi’s crew consisted of the Frenk bounty hunter Rumi Paramita, the diminuitive Seripas who wore a large metal suit, and the oh so cool Kyozo bounty hunter Embo. Sugi and Seripas also returned in Episode 3.22 “Wookiee Hunt” as the shuttle pilots that helped rescue Chewie and Ahsoka. Sugi also had cameos in episodes 3.4 “Sphere of Influence” and 4.22 “Revenge.” While fan favorite, Embo returned and re-appeared in the Obi-Wan undercover story arc, episodes 4.17 “The Box” and 4.18 “Crisis on Naboo.”

The Expanded Universe gave us the concept of the Cuy’val Dar. Literaly translated into basic from Mando’a this phrase means “those who no longer exist.” These Cuy’val Dar served as training sergeants on Kamino to train the Clone Troopers for the GAR. Among the Cuy’val Dar you had Mandalorians as well as non-Mandalorian bounty hunters. In the Season Three premier episode, “Clone Cadets” we meet two of these training seargents Bric (Siniteen male) and El-Les (Arcona male).

One-and-doners:

There are a number bounty hunters that have appeared in just one episode so far, some are memorable and some are forgetable.

The IG-86 droids HELIOS-3D (1.22 Hostage Crisis) and HELIOS-3E (3.8 Evil Plans) worked with Cad Bane, but the most interesting droid bounty hunter in TCW has to be C-21 Highsinger who was party of Boba Fett’s gang in episode 4.20 “Bounty”

Cato Parasitti, the clawdite bounty hunter assumed the identities of Jedi Ord Enisence as well as Jocasta Nu before being captured in episode 2.1 “Holocron Heist.”

Brainee, the same species as Bric, showed up in episode 3.4 “Sphere of Influence” working with Greedo in the plan to capture Baron Papanoida and his son who where investigating the kidnapping of Papanoida’s daughters.

Onca, Bulduga, Jakoli, Mantu, Kiera Swan, Sinrich and Sixtat, all appeared in episode 4.17 “The Box,” unfortunately for them the Box exacted a fatal toll on those who failed to master it’s many challenges.

Oked, a Beldnab bounty hunter made the mistake at hitting on Asajj Ventress in episode 4.20 “Bounty.” A lesson to everyone to be careful who you try to pick up in a cantina.

Original Trilogy Guest Stars:

This is where things get really interesting. Sy Snootles, Greedo, Bossk and Dengar. Sy Snootles may not neatly fit the definition of a bounty hunter but this scorned lover certainly collected a bounty by killing Ziro the Hutt in episode 3.9 “Hunt for Ziro.” Snootles not only killed the fugitive Hutt but recovered damaging information on the Hutt Ruling Council for her employer Jabba. Snootles returned to the series in a less then glamorous drunken cameo in episode 4.16 “Friends and Enemies.”

Greedo may have opened up a continuity can of worms, but I enjoy this rather ineffective bounty hunter, even if he is a little slow on the draw. Greedo appeared in episode 3.4 “Sphere of Influence.”

Bossk has gotten a lot of screen time and frankly, if this dinosaur in a flight suit was chasing me I would probably either faint or surrender. First appearing in the two-part Season Two finale, Bossk returned as an inmate and jail break partner to Boba Fett in episode 4.15 “Deception.” Bossk stayed associated with Fett as he was part of Fett’s gang in episode 4.20 “Bounty.” It will be interesting to see if we get more Bossk-Fett relationship development through the course of the series.

Dengar also appeared as part of Boba Fett’s crew in episode 4.20 “Bounty,” and proves that some of us just don’t age very gracefully.

Bad Guys who keep showing up:

Castas appeared as part of the crew of Aurra Sing along with Boba Fett and Bossk in episodes 2.21 and 2.22, and proves that getting cold feet on a high stakes bounty can be dangerous.

Latts Razzi is a very interesting looking female bounty hunter that debuted in episode 4.20 “Bounty,” and returned looking like Asajj Ventress’ BFF in episode 4.21 “Brothers.”

Rako Hardeen himself appeared in episode 4.15 “Deception,” but his fascimile made repeated appearances as Obi-Wan Kenobi practiced some identity theft in episodes 4.16-4.18.

Moralo Eval also appeared in episodes 4.15-4.18, and while he seemed to be the “big bad” soon found himself taking a back seat to Cad Bane. Eval is one of the few new villians introduced into TCW that actually survived his debut story arc.

Aurra Sing is one of the most interesting characters in Star Wars. A very unique looking background character in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Sing was later included in comics, the novels and now TCW. Sing has appeared in episodes 1.22 “Hostage Crisis,” 2.20 “Death Trap,” 2.21 “R2 Come Home,” 2.22 “Lethal Trackdown,” and 3.7 “Assassin.” Sing got her own staring episode in “Assassin” and that is one of the best episodes of the first half of Season Three.

Baddest Guys: Cade Bane and Boba Fett:

Boba Fett may be the baddest man in the Star Wars universe , a Clint Eastwood in space, but in TCW he is still just a wee tyke.

Fett appears in episodes 2.20-22, 4.15, and 4.20. While last we saw Fett he was getting stuffed in a trunk, the good news is that there is a pretty good chance we will get to see more Boba Fett in TCW series going forward. There are even hints based on what appears to be an early leaked TCW style animation of Boba Fett in his traditional armor to get us very excited about how his character will develop on the show.

Cad Bane is one of three characters created by TCW that is probably the best legacy so far of the series. Along with Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex, Bane has introduced an interesting new element into the Star Wars galaxy and is a very interesting bad guy who’s fate is open. Bane has a very cool character design, a suitably dark voice and a willingness to take just about any job for the right price. In many ways Bane is to TCW as Boba Fett is to the Original Trilogy era.

Bane is all over TCW, introduced in episode 1.22 “Hostage Crisis,” and also appeared in episodes 2.1-2.3, 3.8-3.9, and 4.15-4.18.

One thing is for sure with Bane, you may be able to capture him but he is a particularly tough Duros to kill. No doubt Bane will show up many times before the end of TCW.

Stay tuned as we continue this series of Clone Wars Viewer’s Guides during The Clone Wars between seasons break.